State Commission Bans Shark Feeding

November 2, 2001|By Steve Waters Staff Writer

Key Largo — Stressing that the spate of shark attacks during the summer was not a factor in its decision, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted Thursday to ban the feeding of marine life by divers.

The commissioners voted 7-0 to approve the rule, which also prohibits fish-feeding dives by operators who take divers out to watch sharks, moray eels and other wildlife being fed. The rule takes effect Jan. 1, although the dive industry has filed a lawsuit and an administrative challenge to prevent the rule from being filed.

The FWC, which has held five public workshops and meetings during the past two years on the issue, limited public testimony Thursday to 30 minutes per side. More than 100 people attended the meeting, the majority of them in favor of feeding sharks.

Time and again, pro-feeders said that there is no correlation between feeding sharks and shark attacks. They said they were willing to compromise on the guidelines set forth by the commission at its previous meeting in Amelia Island. They also said that tourism would suffer if feeding dives were banned. Several pro-feeders noted that some members of the state House Natural Resources Committee requested the FWC to delay its decision until more studies could be done.

Commission chairman David Meehan reiterated that the commission saw no connection between shark feeding and shark attacks. He then asked for discussion on the legislators' request.

Commissioner John Rood said there was no consensus among committee members that the issue needed further study. Edwin Roberts of Pensacola said Panhandle legislators supported the ban. He added, "As far as being hasty, I don't know of an issue we've dealt with that we've been as painstakingly slow with our process."

Rodney Barreto saw the request for a study as an 11th-hour tactic to delay the implementation of the ban. According to Ken Haddad of the Florida Marine Research Institute, a study to see if feeding alters the behavior of marine life would take a minimum of one year.

"We put this off for a year, year-and-a-half already. If we do it again, we're right back where we were before," said Quinton Hedgepeth, who also took issue with the feeders saying they wanted to work out a compromise. "The four individuals who actually do this told us they would not abide by our regulations."

Julie Morris then put the entire issue in perspective, saying that it was not a safety issue. Rather, feeding fish alters their behavior and is thus damaging to Florida's marine life.

Bob Harris, an attorney for the dive industry, has already filed two suits seeking to block the rule and said he will file a third Monday. Jim Antista, general counsel for the FWC, said he is confident the FWC will be able to get the lawsuits, which basically claim that the FWC did not follow proper procedure in arriving at its rule, dismissed.

The FWC also approved new snook regulations for state waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Monroe County and Everglades National Park. Effective Jan. 1, the limit will be one snook per day, and the season will be closed from May 1-Aug. 31. The changes will reduce snook harvest by 45 percent and increase the number of spawning snook to 41 percent of the population.

Steve Waters can be reached at swaters@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-356-4648.